


technicolor flames through cyber wires

by RyuuSiren7



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: #Humor, #friendship, Breaking of the Laws of Physics, Bullying, But she tries to get better (eventually), Child Neglect, Cyber Fic, Family, Family Fluff, Feels, Fluff, Fon likes text lingo and emojis, Friendship, Gen, Gokudera teaches music, Growing Up, Hibari "Notice me Kohai" Kyoya, Hibari Does Not (on principle), Hibari also likes being called senpai, Hibari is protective, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kiddy!Tenth Gen, Kusakabe is basically everyone's mom, Mukuro is basically Sam Winchester and will not be denied phone service, Nana isn't very good at that, Reborn is bored, Reborn is still an excellent tutor online, Redemption, Ridiculousness, Social Media, The Vendice are very confused by this, There may be a Tsuna worshipping cult, Tsuna Growing Up, Tsuna accidentally takes over the world, he has no idea what he's doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-04-20 15:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14264556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuuSiren7/pseuds/RyuuSiren7
Summary: Tsuna knew two things for certain: one, he was 10 years old (double digits!) and two, he was completely Dame and No-good (even his kaa-san agreed). Still, he would really like a friend... and if he can't make one in real life, maybe he can find one online? Of course, Tsuna didn't expect that his creation of a "Mida" social media account would lead to world domination, but he really should have.





	1. The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27

**Author's Note:**

> AN: So, I know I promised that Xanxus TSAW chapter and you all definitely deserve it after the response it got (especially from Archive of Our Own). Unfortunately, Xanxus is being a little brat and not cooperating with me right now, and somehow, this happened instead. Oops.
> 
> AN2: Somehow the Xanxus chapter still came out first. I don't even know anymore. The characters just write themselves honestly.
> 
> AN3: I am apparently manga!Kyoko about Nana.
> 
> *****
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of bullying and abuse. Extreme liberties were taken with the setup of social media because the author doesn't use it. Just imagine "Mida" as the ultimate social media site. Also, future FLUFF because I need it in my life. But until then, angst. And some humor, of course.
> 
> *****
> 
> Disclaimer: KHR is not mine.

_"The Internet is my voice._

_Listen."_

**(-FlyingUnderwater, Six-Word Memoirs)**

* * *

 

Sometimes, Sawada Tsunayoshi forgot his own name.

Oh, it wasn't because of his constant memory problems (for once) or anything like that. It's just that he heard his actual birth-name so rarely, it was easy to forget it wasn't something else.

He knew himself by many other, less pleasant names. Some names hurt, but he could grow used to them, learn to shield himself against the verbal barbs from people he did not know nor care for. (He tried to ignore the hurt that came with being friendless.)

"Dame-Tsuna!" "Useless!" "No good!" "Did you see that Sawada child…?" "A punk!" "A delinquent!" "It's amazing he's still alive, considering his clumsiness and stupidity."

There were other names, too. Ones he barely remembered.

"Tuna-fish!" "Grandson."

And the one that hurt the most.

"Oh, my Useless Tsu-kun, what am I to do with you?"

Sawada Tsunayoshi stared at the computer screen in front of him. His kaa-san had encouraged him to create a social media account to try and reach out to others. (To make him a little less of a disappointment.) _Name?_ The cursor on the screen blinked in the blank box.

If he put his real name… everyone would know. He'd still be Dame-Tsuna, there would be no escape. Even online, his name alone would separate him from everyone. In another world, the young brunette with hopeful, tired eyes entered his real name and immediately found himself the subject of cyberbullying, leading him to delete his account and never try again.

In this world, Sawada Tsunayoshi mustered up all his courage and creativity and typed in a username of his own design.

_The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27_

He took a deep breath and clicked _Enter_.

* * *

 

Not so far away, in a different part of the same Japanese town, a black-haired boy pulled out his mobile phone and flicked it open, absentmindedly scrolling through alerts from his Twitter account while he relaxed on the sun-warmed pavement of the roof and white clouds drifted aimlessly overhead.

_You have a new follower!_

An arched eyebrow rose in bemusement as the boy saw his latest alert. It seemed that the Mida matching system had prompted a new user to follow him. He was prepared to dismiss it as he had all similar requests before he hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen. His instincts - honed and sharpened through danger until they were better than most predator's - were prompting him to accept, were murmuring promises of violence and interesting things. (And, if they also whispered of companionship, of finding a place to call home that wouldn't shackle, him, well. That was his business, and no one else's.)

A sharp smirk slid across aristocratic features as he selected _Follow back!_

Below the school building, a group of students climbed the fence and began roughhousing playfully. The young teenager stretched lazily before rolling to his feet and leaping from the roof, tonfa gleaming and "Kamikorosu!" already growled out.

Kusakabe Tetsuya stepped out from where he had been waiting in the shadow of the stairs and picked up the phone his leader had abandoned.

Kusakabe blinked in surprise - after all, Hibari Kyoya was infamous for not following anyone or anything, even online. As such, it was the work of only a moment to draw out his own mobile and pull up his Mida account.

* * *

 

_CarnivorousClouds18 is now following you!_

_DisciplinedHair is now following you!_

Sawada Tsunayoshi nearly choked on his tea as two alerts popped up on his phone - two followers, one right after the other. And one was one of the people he had followed when he was first setting up his account! The brunette smiled. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea, after all.

At least online, he'd be known by his own name, even if it wasn't the one he was given at birth.

At least he chose it for himself, by himself.

* * *

 

_**DragonStorm:** U should check this guy out. Apparently, my nephew decided to follow him. _

 

_**HeatstruckBullets** : Oh? I have been rather bored lately. **The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27** , huh? …Interesting choice of name. I'll check it out..._

 

_**DragonStorm:** Ur welcome. ; )_

 

_**HeatstruckBullets:** If we were IRL, I'd shoot you for that._

_**HeatstruckBullets:** And just spell out "you're," seriously. You'll take the time to spell out "apparently" but not "you're?"  
_

 

_**DragonStorm:** LOL_

 

_**HeatsruckBullets:** Die._

* * *

 

When Sawada Tsunayoshi woke up from another night filled with dreams of cruel words and memories of punches and kicks and even more than that, he was greeted not by the call of his mother summoning her useless son to breakfast, but a cheery message from his new account.

_HeatstruckBullets is now following you!_

With a bright grin, the brunette hopped out of bed and hurriedly got ready for school. Unlike most days, it was easy to ignore the exhaustion that dragged at his bones and the cold mist that clouded his mind. Even the freezing cold that seeped into his bones and made him hurt and ache for as long as he could remember couldn't ruin his morning. Not when his phone was a constant, burning reminder in his pocket.

"Ara, my Useless Tsu-kun, did you follow my recommendation?"

Tsuna blinked up at his mother, toast already hanging out of his mouth and he pulled on his jacket and backpack. Biting down on what he could reach and grabbing the rest, the middle schooler swallowed quickly and nodded, beaming brilliantly.

"Hai, kaa-san! I already have three friends." Tsuna tried not to let the flash of surprise that crossed his mother's face surprise him. After all, he was Dame-Tsuna. His mother, who tried so hard for him, had every right to her disbelief that her son had actually managed to get followers, especially so quickly.

(That didn't make it hurt any less.)

The clock on the wall ticked away, attracting Tsuna's attention before his caramel eyes widened in shock. "HIEEIII! Kaa-san, I'm going to be late!"

"Have a good day, Tsu-kun~"

The young brunette dashed away, waving distractedly over his shoulder as he sprinted, stumbling occasionally and wincing each time he fell, scraping his hands against the rough cement of the sidewalk.

The school gates were just in front of him when the bell rang, echoing across the empty yard. "No!" Tsuna cried out as he tripped in shock, landing flat on his face and wincing from the pain. "I was so close, too…" He sighed as he dragged himself back up, mindful of the possibility that the infamous prefect could be watching as the brunette entered the school, routinely accepting his detention and subsequent lecture for being late before taking his seat.

The day passed slowly, the usual mix of sneers from his classmates and even teachers flying over Tsuna's head as he doodled clouds with teeth on his papers instead of paying attention to the lessons he could never understand.

Once the lunch bell rang, Tsuna was the first to leave the class, easily making it to a small alcove in the roof where he usually hid and ate. No one ever came up to the roof because of Hibari Kyoya, who was rumored to take naps on the warm pavement during sunny days. Between the options of having his lunch stolen and beaten up or just being tonfa'd in the face, Tsuna thought he'd take his chances with the Disciplinary Committee Chairman.

Opening his bento happily, Tsuna dug into his kaa-san's delicious cooking while pulling out his bright orange phone and logging in, grinning to himself at the cute lion charm hanging from the phone. It was the work of seconds to pull up his Mida account, clicking on the names of his three followers.

 _CarnivorousClouds18_ was definitely the most active account, Tsuna mused, even though the only person the user was following was Tsuna himself. (The thrill of pride that shot through him at that was completely unwarranted, but Tsuna relished the warm feeling anyway.) Despite that, the account had over a thousand followers from all over the world, though most of them had _Namimori, Japan_ selected as their location. Tsuna gulped nervously, eyeing the simple _Japan_ that _CarnivorousClouds18_ himself had chosen. Well, it wasn't like the other knew he was Dame-Tsuna, anyway. Besides, most of the posts were either police reports or wildlife facts and pictures - it was very unlikely that such a professional and focused page belonged to a fellow classmate.

 _DisciplinedHair_ was one of the people following _CarnivorousClouds18_ and seemed to mostly repost police reports and other stats. Some messages were worded really strangely, and the young brunette found himself wondering if it was based on some kind of code. In any case, both users seemed to have a lot in common from followers to messages, and Tsuna wondered if they worked together or something. This account also had _Japan_ as its location, so there was still a chance that they didn't actually live in Namimori.

 _HeatstruckBullets_ , on the other hand, was terrifying. Tsuna's eyes widened as he saw how many followers the other had. He didn't even know that many people had social media accounts! The other's followers could probably form a medium-sized country if they all came together. Despite that, the user was following less than twenty people. Tsuna gulped. What were people like this doing, following a new user (a nobody) like him? Even more intimidating were the others posts. They ranged from travel pictures taken all over the world to new weapon developments to the latest math and science and music theories. The only personal information the other user had included were his gender and location: Italy. Tsuna wondered how someone could get so many followers when they only posted one to five messages a month.

The brunette put down his phone shakily, frowning as he saw that most of lunch had passed him by while he was investigating his new followers. Quickly finishing and packing his bento, Tsuna stood up quickly, ducking out of the small corner of the roof only to freeze in horror.

There, less than a foot from his face, was one Hibari Kyoya.

Tsuna felt like wailing, gulping as he stared into cold grey eyes. He wanted to beg, to run, to ask for forgiveness for a crime he did not commit. He opened his mouth-

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Tsuna froze once more.

That's right. He… He had friends now, or at least, a chance to have friends. Three followers, all of who were really, really cool, in Tsuna's opinion. So… so he wasn't going to be pushed around anymore!

Brown eyes flickered orange for less than a second, and steel grey eyes widened.

"Hn. Hurry on, class will be starting soon."

Tsuna blinked in shock as the head prefect simply walked out onto the roof, not even giving him a warning smack with the deadly tonfa that peaked out of his sleeves. "H-Hai, Hibari-senpai!" The brunette decided not to question his luck and (quickly) walked away, barely dodging a tall, older boy in the black Disciplinary Committee uniform on the way.

Tsuna slumped against his desk with a relieved sigh, ignoring the glares from the bullies that had no doubt wasted part of their break while looking for him. Pulling out his notebook, Tsuna set forth on expanding his fanged cloud doodles to include smoking bullets and strange hair designs while school continued to drag on.

* * *

 

In his rush to escape, Tsuna missed one Hibari Kyoya turning around, a slight expression of surprise flitting across his face before disappearing. "Senpai? Hn… No one calls me that…" In Namimori, where everyone knew Hibari Kyoya was the Demon Prefect, the only terms he had ever heard were "san," "sama," "taichou," and so on (though he suspected Tetsu internally used "kun").

"Hibari-san! Is everything alright? Who was that boy? Wha-"

"Tetsu. Silence."

"Hai, Taichou."

"Hn."

* * *

 

Tsuna raced out the door as the school bell rang, not paying attention to anything but his hurry to get home as he unlocked his phone and pulled up his social accounts once more. Gulping, Tsuna selected his first follower, CarnivorousClouds18, and selected Private Message.

Tsuna hesitated.

What would he say? The only person he had ever really spoke with was his kaa-san, who talked enough for both of them. He could almost remember a time before, with a large, warm figure and an old man with a kind, but brittle smile. But those memories were brittle at best, and Tsuna let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes.

A happy chirp from his phone made him open his eyes in surprise as a message appeared in the previously blank space.

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Hello. How are you enjoying Mida so far?_

 

Tsuna gulped and almost dropped his phone in his hurry to reply, the orange lion charm tinkling against the metal as he typed.

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Hello! It's been great, thx. I like ur name! ^_^  
_

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Thanks._

 

Tsuna sweat-dropped. Now what? After several minutes of walking and staring at his phone in thought, a new message suddenly appeared.

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Since I've been on here longer, that makes me your senpai._

 

Tsuna felt the sweat-drop grow bigger. What? Why was he even asking that? Was… Was the other user just as nervous and bad at conversations as he was? No way, that was just crazy!

(On the other side of Namimori, Hibari hit a thug particularly viciously as he wondered why the other hadn't replied back yet and decided to use the confusing, fluttering feeling that no, _was definitely not nervousness shut up brain_ , as fuel for his attacks. The thugs wept and forever regretted thinking a bed-headed teenager in sweats that looked like he had just crawled out of the gutter was easy prey.)

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Sure, Cloud-senpai. _

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Acceptable, Sky-kohai. Call me 18 when not PMing._

 

Tsuna blinked. Huh…?

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Eh, why…? And what's PMing?_

 

(Hibari Kyoya gulped and broke a robber's knee. If his instincts were so insistent that this other user was interesting, he couldn't scare him away just yet! ...Oh, he actually hadn't meant to break both of that one's arms. Ouch. ...He should probably call the hospital now.)

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Private Messaging._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** And just because._

 

Shrugging, the brunette paused by a crosswalk and looked up at the sky, watching as more clouds rolled in and grey stole across the blue expanse, slowly turning the sunny day overcast. Pounding feet in the distance caught his attention as Tsuna turned, seeing the figures of his classmates (tormentors) turn the corner and head in his direction.

 

 _ **The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Okay, Cloud-senpai. Um… I'm sorry, but I really have to go. Something just ca_ -

 

Tsuna fumbled as he pressed send too early, unable to finish his message as he hurriedly shoved the phone in his pocket. Any longer and the bullies would have seen his phone, and who knows what they could have done if he was still messaging Cloud-senpai. They could have typed anything! And if they broke his phone now, at least the other wouldn't think he was ignoring them.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna! We didn't see much of you today. Hiding from your old friends, eh?" The speaker was the leader of this pack of delinquents.

"Y-You're not my friends! Y-You can't k-keep doing this to p-people! It's not right!" Tsuna didn't know who was more surprised at his outburst - the bullies, or himself. The bullies' faces turned red with rage as they stepped forward, dragging Tsuna into an alley. (People saw, but they wouldn't do anything. They never did.)

Tsuna gulped. This wouldn't end well.

* * *

 

Hibari Kyoya dropped the thug he was dragging to the ambulance in favor of pulling out his phone that had just buzzed. A dark, bloodthirsty aura rose from the black-haired boy as he read the text, slowly closing his phone and sliding it into his pocket.

The thug began crawling away.

"Tetsu."

"Taichou?"

_"Track this phone signal."_

"Taichou, we've talked about this. Stalking people isn't-"

"Tetsuya. _Now_."

"...Yes sir."

"Hn."

* * *

 

Tsuna pulled out his phone as he limped, checking it for any damage before letting out a sigh of relief. Somehow, he had managed to protect his phone during the beating. The young brunette frowned as a drop of blood fell on his mobile, using his sleeve to wipe it away before pinching his nose shut. "Oh gosh, I hope Cloud-Senpai isn't mad at me…."

Opening Mida, Tsuna blinked at the sudden onslaught of messages that appeared on his screen.

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** What happened?_

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Sky-kohai, answer me._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** And finish your sentences._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Where are you?_

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** I will find you._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Don't make this harder than it needs to be._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Sky._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Kohai._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** What._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Happened._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** And._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Do not._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Even think._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** About lying._

 

Tsuna gulped.

It was the first day, and already he was going to lose a friend. Sighing, the brunette shut his phone down and put it away. He'd answer it after he got home and cleaned up.

Anything to prolong the inevitable.

* * *

 

"Taichou, we lost the signal."

Hibari scowled from the backseat of the black van, glancing behind him to where Kusakabe and a couple other DC members were hooked up to computers, tracking technology, surveillance cameras, and more.

"To the last known location, then."

Tetsuya nodded and issued out commands, allowing Kyoya to sprawl out on his seat and relax for another fifteen minutes before arriving. Sniffing the air, the prefect scowled as he marched straight into a nearby alley, tonfa out and gleaming.

Just as the DC Chairman had sensed, there were bloodstains at the end of the alley. Kneeling down, Kyoya brushed his fingers against the rough, grimy stone wall. The crimson smeared at his touch and dripped from delicate fingers. Still fresh, then.

With a snarl, Kyoya stalked back to the van, allowing the DC forensic team to scour the area for clues while more hacked the surveillance cameras and police reports.

(Unfortunately for Kyoya, the cameras in this part of the city were ancient. As such, they only half worked at best and all videos were stored in the cameras themselves, which were wiped every 24 hours to make room for new film. At the discovery of this, the carnivore would fly into another rage and force all of Namimori to upgrade to the newest technology, funding most of it himself and making the small city one of the most security advanced in the nation. Though that wouldn't happen for another day.)

Hours later, while he was relaxing on the sofa in the committee room (which he did not live in, shut up Tetsu) his phone buzzed.

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Sry for disappearing! My phone died._

 

Hibari glanced at the blood he hadn't bothered to wash from his fingers.

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** You're lying. _

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** I told you not to._

 

The three dots signifying that the other was typing lasted for minutes, dragging on and on until Hibari wanted nothing more than to chuck his phone out the window and find the blasted herbivore himself.

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Sorry, Cloud-senpai._

 

Kyoya nearly - _nearly_ \- groaned. What were you supposed to do with sensitive people? And how could someone his instincts promised was interesting be so touchy?

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Hn. Just take better care of yourself, kohai._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** I know someone hurt you._

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** Who was it?_

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** I'll bite-_

 

Hibari froze. If he wrote his infamous catchphrase, the other would easily figure out the Cloud's identity. He'd have to use something else… Quickly deleting his writing, Kyoya typed a new message and sent it before nodding approvingly. There, his identity was hidden. No need to scare the other off too soon.

 

_**CarnivorousClouds18:** I'll arrest them to death._

 

Somewhere in Namimori, Kusakabe groaned in exasperation and put his face in hands. For some reason, he felt like he was going to have to give Kyo-kun "subtlety" lessons again.

* * *

 

In his room, Tsuna's eyes widened. That… That was kind of scary. But to think someone would do that for _him_ , for _(Dame-)_ _Tsuna_ …. It was kind of nice, too.

 

_**The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:** Thx Cloud-senpai, but I want to handle it myself. ...I don't want to be weak anymore._

 

(Hibari smirked at the new message. So _this_ was why his instincts had been so insisting. A baby carnivore was learning to use his fangs.

This would be fun.)


	2. Flashfire (Happy Birthday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is said that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can create a hurricane in Texas, thereby creating the chaos theory referred to as the “butterfly effect.” However, it is countered that such a theory only holds true in greatly simplified models of chaos and that those microscopic changes go otherwise unnoticed.
> 
> That being said, three (notorious) leaders following an unknown variable on the world’s most popular social media site is a bit larger than a flap of a butterfly’s wings. Truthfully, it’s more like a metric ton of lit C4 being dropped into a savanna during dry season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hooooooly shi- oh yeah this is rated K+. Holy cow. Guys. Guys. You all like this story? App-ar-ent-ly. Thank you so much for all the support! This was truly just a random drabble that I expected to go unnoticed. Looks like the story summary could have applied to me too, not just Tsuna. Thank you again, everyone!
> 
> AN 2: At some point, this was a real story, but it’s quickly devolving into crack. Reborn you weren’t even supposed to be here yet, gtfo. *sigh* I was going to do this slow and gradual but now that I’m using social media to internet stalk figure skaters I realize that something like this would be a nuclear bomb to the Hibari and Reborn canon!fandoms. I mean, a figure skater who I shall not name recently received a ton of crap for a post he liked.
> 
> AN3: Why the frick are all these chapters so short. Whatever. More frequent updates for ya’ll, I guess.
> 
> AN4: Hibari’s birthday is May 5th. Other May birthdays include the eccentric Verde, the wacky Haru Miura, a person IDK named Kaoru Mizuno, and the amazing Lambo Bovino. Anyway, in honor of Hibari, (and the others), I made this chapter longer and included more character development for him - Hibari - specifically. Enjoy and long live Kyoya.

 

_“In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.”_

_-Edward Lorenz_

* * *

 

**Chapter Two: Flashfire (Happy Birthday)**

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi, age 10, kissed his kaa-san goodnight, claimed his injuries were from his own clumsiness, cleaned up, ate dinner, neglected to do his homework (it would just be incorrect or taken by bullies anyway), and went to bed.  An ordinary day for an ordinary little boy.

Roughly 9,723 kilometers (or 6,041 miles) away, the same was not so true for Italy, or more specifically, the entire, global crime syndicate.

* * *

The world was in chaos – and for once, the World’s Greatest Hitman was only partially responsible.  Said black haired man – er, toddler – smirked as he sipped his espresso, calculating black eyes staring back at his fellow occupants in the deathly quiet room.  It was, of course, sheer coincidence that Reborn would be visiting mafia island and its most popular bar for information gathering the same day he raised the number of people he was following on Mida from 11 to 12.

Sheer coincidence.

Really.

Pinkie promise (with fingers crossed behind his back).

In any case, Reborn had been (stylishly) chugging espressos like the pro he was ever since he casually interrupted the many conversations featuring himself three hours, 47 minutes, and 27 seconds ago.  Fifty-six mafioso, frozen with terror, were helpless to do anything but watch, horrified, as the most dangerous (baby) hitman in the world drank enough caffeine to send an African Bull Elephant into cardiac arrest and never stopped making eye contact with all _fifty-six of them_ while pointing a distinctive green gun at them. _( How did he do so many things at once with only two eyes and arms? How?! )_

Reborn smirked.

It was good to be the Best.

* * *

Elsewhere in the world, where most mafiosos still retained a modicum of brain function, an embarrassingly large portion of the criminal population were staring at their cell phones, tablets, and computers in a mix of shock and terror.  Reborn, the World’s Greatest Hitman, had followed someone on Mida.

_Reborn had followed someone._

Not only that, but the other two followers, while unknown, were also obviously at least somewhat important people.

(Hibari grinned even more savagely than usual at the crunch of his opponent’s bones beneath the steel of his tonfa, and the pride Tetsuya felt in his boss seemed stronger than ever.)

As such, there were countless questions flooding the underground, and not even the famous informant of the Varia had answers.  (Though that could arguably be because Reborn had already spoken with the Mist and set the price for information so ridiculously high that no one else could ever hope to match it. Mammon was a very happy assassin.)

Who was this mysterious person? Where did they live? What gender were they? Absolutely zero information had been included in the bio, and there weren’t even any posts yet! Were they a Sky, like the username implied? Mio Dio, were they _Reborn’s Sky_?  How dangerous were they? What famiglia were they from?

And, most importantly, should they follow this new user, too?

* * *

7,562 km (4,699 mi) away from the majority of panicking mafioso 3,045 km (1,892 mi) from the main source of said chaos, and roughly 15 m (50 ft) from the fretting First Triad, the figure of a child in dark red clothes with a long, black braid smirked.

Unfortunately for them, the Chinese crime lords were far too busy to notice their most powerful “asset” scheming.

The child bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin, his smile too sharp and too wide to masquerade as anything close to pleasant.  He tapped his phone screen once, turned it off, and left the meeting of fools more silently than a passing breeze.

Fon did so love to mess with his cute little nephew and, of course, Reborn.

(If the Arcobaleno Storm knew the consequences of his actions, he would never have even made a Mida account in the first place. Then again… maybe it was worth it, in the end.

Maybe.)

* * *

A little boy with fluffy brown hair lied asleep, his innocent and blissfully ignorant eyes closed as Sawada Tsunayoshi slept, dreaming of flying on fanged clouds with a lizard – or was it a gun? – companion as his guide and a unicorn butler with each steady rise and fall of his little chest.

On the young brunette’s bedside table, a cheery _ding!_ Interrupted the otherwise peaceful silence of the room.

A notification popped up on the screen.

_DragonStorm is now following you!_

* * *

 

Hardened, jaded eyes widened worldwide.  Someone had done it – had followed the mysterious account of the Great Reborn’s attention.

The floodgates were opened.

A young blond whose demon tutor was taking a break from tor- tutoring him scrambled for his phone after being informed of the news, quickly pulling up his Mida account and following the popular new user.  He didn’t want Reborn to kill him for not following the hitman’s example!

Pausing in the creation of her newest love-filled meal, a magenta-haired assassin picked up her phone and pressed _Follow_ without a second thought.  After all, if Reborn approved, then so did she.

The Varia Elite, after a quick meeting that ended with their flamboyant Sun forcing the assassins to scrub out the bloodstains they caused, all unanimously agreed to follow the current trending topic of conversation.  They were Varia, and it was always good to keep tabs on possible Quality.

Tiny, shaking hands held a cracked phone between them as their young (in body, but never mind) owner scrolled through his social media accounts to destress.  Per usual, purple eyes flicked over “ _suggested to follow_ ” recommendations and tapped every single one on the first page, not truly noticing any of them.

Sitting against the bed’s backboard in his dark room with two other small bodies pressed against him on both sides, a young boy smirked at the new development in the mafia world and decided to keep track of this new, interesting unknown.  Perhaps they would be helpful to his plans… the body on the boy’s right twitched and whimpered. Heterochromatic eyes softened as he stroked the younger boy’s head until the animalistic child fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Sighing, a figure cloaked in midnight black and white bandages stared at their empty desk in boredom.  With nothing better to do, they pulled out their phone and started scrolling through Mida, internally chuckling at the overwhelming appearance of the new trending hashtag, _#Sky27_.  Hmm… they did not have this user on file. He would follow this “Sky,” just in case they tried to break mafia law. (And also because they were incredibly bored. Mostly because they were bored.)

Fingertips blackened with ash and gunpowder opened up the Mida page of the mafia’s hero (or as close to a hero as the mafia can get).  A cigarette fell as a young silverette’s jaw dropped at the new person Reborn-san was following. Without a second thought, the bomber followed this other user as well.

In CEDEF, the external branch of the Vongola, absolutely nothing happened.  Despite being an information agency, their leader, the famed Young Lion of the Vongola, resolutely disapproved of social media and forbid any of his underlings to utilize it, lest they be distracted from their actual work. (A blue-haired toddler who did not care one iota what Baka-mitsu said decided to follow her Sun and Storms’ leads, adding the same user as so many others and never telling her boss a word.)

* * *

 

Lost to the world, ten-year-old Sawada Tsunayoshi rolled over in his sleep, burrowing deeper into his blankets and generally being adorable.

The poor child had no idea the stress he had caused millions of people, nor did he realize what that meant for him.  It was only when the rising sun turned the sky a brilliant orange and the blaring of an alarm clock summoned the child to get ready for school that Tsuna discovered the night’s development.

_You have 1,827,969 new followers!_

_You have 1,827,970 new followers!_

_You have 1,827,971 new followers!_

_You have –_

“HIIIIEEEEIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!”

* * *

 

Sawada Nana and Tsunayoshi sat, speechless, staring at the phone on the kitchen table.  It was buzzing endlessly, new notifications popping up without pause. The two were heedless of the ticking clock behind them, or the fact that the start of school was crawling ever closer with each passing second.  No, there were far more important things to focus on.

Namely, the fact that no-good, dame, _Useless Tsuna_ , had somehow become an internet celebrity overnight.

Without posting a. single. thing.

The phone was still buzzing.

Robotically, Tsuna picked up his phone, turned off notifications, shoved it in his pocket, kissed his kaa-san goodbye, grabbed his backpack, and left for elementary school.

Not even 8:30 am, and it was already an abnormal day for a special little boy.

* * *

 

Hibari Kyoya was fuming, perched on the roof of _his_ school and glaring at the crowding herbivores below.

Behind him, Kusakabe Tetsuya could feel the strain on his impassive façade with each increase of _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27_ ’s followers.  Who was this person?

Hibari, who had long since turned his phone off in favor of brooding and pounding the fear of carnivores into the lesser life forms around him, idly imagined all the ways he could ki- _permanently remove_ the useless herbivores crowding _his_ baby carnivore. It was all that fake-baby’s fault, he knew.  The black-haired boy snarled (re: pouted) at the thought of the man-to-whom-he-held-no-relation.

While most people knew _DragonStorm_ was someone Important – Reborn followed him, after all – surprisingly few had made the connection between the online tea-and-nature enthusiast and the Storm Arcobaleno.  Hibari assumed it was because the majority of people were herbivores and moved on. In any case, it was only after that man followed his kohai that so did the other _two million and counting ._

Naturally, this made it all the annoying carnivore’s fault.

Hibari would not accept this.

If the storm was going to try and sweep away his Sky online, then the cloud would find and shelter him in reality.

Unfortunately for one ambitious 11-year-old, this was much more easily said than done.

* * *

 

As Tsuna ignored the jeers of his classmates in favor of shell-shocked delirium and the captains of the Disciplinary Committee forged a plan of attack (and capture), Sawada Nana was still sitting at the dining room table.

Slowly, the woman smiled. 

Oh, her Useless Tsu-kun was growing up so much! Already showing signs of becoming a great leader like his father!  Nana smiled joyously, beginning to contemplate if she should make Tsuna hamburger steak for dinner when suddenly a dusty metaphorical light bulb flickered to life above her head.

If her Tsu-kun was to be an internet superstar, he had to start making posts! Scanning the room for ideas, soft brown eyes landed on an old camera, untouched and unmoved from the top of the cabinet since her darling husband’s last visit.

Perfect~

* * *

 

When Tsuna made it home from school, still ignoring the phone in his pocket, the brunette shrieked as his enthusiastic kaa-san pounced on the unexpecting child. Dragging her adorably confused son upstairs and to the roof, Nana kneeled next to Tsuna, smiling caramel eyes meeting curious amber.

“See this, my Useless Tsu-kun?” Amber dulled to muddy brown as the little boy nodded, eyeing the camera in his mother’s hand.  “Since you have so many friends online, you need to start making posts for them!” Tsuna nodded. That made sense. “Do you know what you want to blog about?” Tsuna shook his head.  He had never expected to have a single follower, let alone over three million (and counting). 

“In that case, why don’t you try photography?” Tsuna blinked as his kaa-san put the camera in his small hands, holding it carefully while she pointed out the different buttons and functions.  

“Do you understand, Tsu-kun?”

Tsuna faltered.  He was pretty sure he didn’t remember half of what his kaa-san had just told him, but he didn’t want to hear the name “Useless Tsu-kun” again, either.  So, the child nodded determinedly and lifted the camera, aiming it at the horizon and, after a brief moment of panic, zoomed in on some pretty clouds and took a picture.  Proudly, Tsuna raised the boxy device to his smiling kaa-san, who giggled as she checked the memory roll and showed it to her little boy.

On the tiny LED screen was a picture of two fluffy clouds drifting in the brilliantly blue sky, the sun just peeking in and casting its rays of light in the upper right corner. 

“Very good, Tsu-kun!”

Sawada Tsunayoshi beamed up at his kaa-san, flowers and sparkles seemingly appearing behind him for a moment before vanishing.  That night, Nana and Tsuna sat down at the computer and downloaded the photo before making Tsu-kun’s first Mida post – a completely uncaptioned picture of the sky, sun, and clouds.

Afterward, the two sat down together and worked on Tsuna’s homework for the first time in years, only taking a break to eat dinner and clean the dishes together, giggling and flicking soap bubbles at each other’s face.

It didn’t matter how many times his kaa-san called him useless that night –  _ it didn’t, really _ . Tsuna was just happy to spend time with the most amazing person in the entire world.

* * *

 

In a silent house on the other side of town, a boy stared impassively at the dark screen of the phone before him, knees pulled up and hugged to his chest and delicate features tinted with rage and, yes, disappointment. 

Sky-kohai had ignored him all day, no matter how many messages he sent.  It didn’t matter that Kyoya had found him first, didn’t matter that there had been – at least, Kyoya had thought that there had been – an unspoken agreement between the two of them, the possibility of a bond between carnivores that could be  _ trusted  _ (unlike with that annoying fake-baby). But as soon as the other had more followers, Kyoya was forgotten.

It was foolish and herbivorous, and the self-proclaimed carnivore hated that he felt it at all,  _ especially _ after only a day. This disappointment, the jealousy that burned in his chest, was ridiculous, and Kyoya would not contemplate it for a single second more.

Hibari Kyoya hmphed and turned away from the phone, relaxing on his futon and waiting to be lulled to the nothingness of sleep by the silence of the empty house and rustling of the wind outside, trying to quench the stubborn hope in his chest that there would be a message notification on his phone come morning.

(He had 11 years of birthday wishes stocked up… maybe on his twelfth, one would actually come true?)

* * *

 

Tsuna, so overwhelmed by the immense number of followers and positive attention from his kaa-san, completely forgot to check his Mida notifications for any messages and went to bed.

He was unaware of the unwanted turmoil he had caused in the person wanted as his first friend.  

* * *

 

Meanwhile, the criminal underworld was still in chaos.  The mysterious user had made his first post – and it was of the sky, with two clouds and a sun.  Was this confirmation that the unknown person knew about Flames? What did this symbolize? Did the elements represent already gathered Guardians, or was it an advertisement for them? Why  _ two _ clouds, either way?

Mios Dio,  _ two clouds. _

Reborn smirked into his umpteenth espresso as the last mafioso awake in the bar fainted, finally unable to take having stood completely still for nearly 23 hours, 43 minutes, and 27 seconds.  It was almost impressive. The bartender waved farewell as the hitman hopped down from the counter, strolling past the unconscious bodies and reveling in his dearly beloved chaos.

* * *

 

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Good morning.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ **  How did you get so many followers?

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Answer me.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Also, do not pay any attention to  _ DragonStorm  _ or anyone that user follows.  He is untrustworthy. Understand?

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Sky-kohai, respond.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Are you still injured from yesterday?

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** You better not be hospitalized, little animal.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Are you ignoring me?

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** I’ll arrest you to death.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Sky-kohai, what is going on?!

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** It has been 18 hours, 27 minutes, and 13 seconds since that troublesome user followed you and 22 hours since you last responded.  What has he told you? What has happened?

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Fine.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** Sayonara.

**_CarnivorousClouds18:_ ** (If you broke your phone or something else herbivorous, I will doubly arrest you to death. If you are unconscious due to untreated wounds, I will triple the arresting.)

* * *

 

On May 5th, Hibari Kyoya opened his eyes to an empty room and silent house.

The black-haired boy sat up quietly, the blankets on his futon barely rustling as small feet padded down wooden corridors and traditional shoji doors opening and closing with barely a whisper.  Sliding cold metal tonfa up holsters beneath loose black sleeves, the young boy stared at himself in the mirror, steel gray eyes meeting chromatic and dull reflections.

With a brief glance downwards, a grimace twisted delicate features.  Hibari Kyoya closed his phone with a click and grabbed his schoolbag, meeting Tetsu at the gate and beginning the silent march to his school and committee.

Cold eyes softened, a smile tugging at the corners of downturned lips at the cheers of the rowdy Disciplinary Committee figures before their leader, shouts of birthday wishes and praise echoing in the now-cramped DC room.

All the while, a black phone burned in the birthday boy’s pocket.

There hadn’t been any messages, no direct acknowledgment from his online kohai, but… the other had made a post, and one with clouds in it - like in his own username.  Surely, that was a sign that the other user had not, at least, forgotten him.

And even if his online kohai did turn out to be a herbivore, well, Hibari Kyoya did not need anyone.  As for wants, well, he had Tetsu and his Committee for that and was proud of the people he had collected.  Didn’t he have a kohai in this very school nowadays, anyway? No, Kyoya did not need his recent online acquaintance, nor the opportunities the other represented, and most certainly not the company of others  _ (family)  _ to fill the empty silence that echoed at night.

No, he decided as thick arms wrapped around him, followed by tackle-hugs by teenagers despite the bite of steel tonfa. Hibari Kyoya had everything he ever needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So not much fun stuff in this chapter, but a lot of plot development that I needed to get out of the way. Because let’s be honest, the mafia idolize Reborn and if he followed someone online, they would too. That’s just how people are. Next chapter is back to Tsuna school days and trying to build a relationship with Kyoya – I mean, CarnivorousClouds18. Reborn – ah, HeatstruckBullets – should be making an appearance in the next chapter or two as well. With any luck, we’ll be getting some longer chapters as we move on to the good stuff.
> 
> Also, Fon is an evil little troll who (currently) regrets nothing and has been hanging out with Reborn too much. 
> 
> Yes, Kyoya is acting a bit OOC. Next chapter will explain why and fix it. Basically, Tsuna’s Seal is acting up and Sky Flames are doing crap without anyone – even Fon – realizing. Kyoya has the misfortune of being the target of said Sky malfunction.
> 
> AN 2: In other news, I just got back from playing with the Boston Symphony this past Monday, am visiting a college today, and am still concussed. Also, did you know that you can actually partially lose your vision if you hit your head hard enough? I need to go to the optometrist.
> 
> Thank you again so much, everyone!
> 
> FFnet:  
> Reviews: 33  
> Favs: 117  
> Follows: 169
> 
> Archive of Our Own:  
> Comments: 41  
> Bookmarks: 46  
> Kudos: 157


	3. Spider Webs on the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plots spin and spin and are spun on spider silk threads, dangling from fragile hands and broken minds. To a child, such plots are as meaningless as the cobwebs that float away on the wind.
> 
> There's something cold that dampens the bonfire inside him, that fills his head with dust and cobwebs. He's managed, always done just enough to keep moving, but now it isn't just about him anymore.
> 
> Tsuna has never had anything (anyone) of his own before, and the fog inside him tries to blur their words and existence. But there's a tinge of indigo, a flare of violet, through the dull orange in his mind and Tsuna knows that no matter what, he will never let go.
> 
> Never. No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Heya peoples! Sorry for the two-month delay… I've been traveling a lot and am beginning University in the Fall, majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology, so have been uber busy with school prep. However, I have made this my NaNoWriMo piece, starting from here. Wish me luck.
> 
> ALSO, seeing as I'm apparently making Tsuna a photography blogger, I started my own photo blog on Tumblr – Roman Ryuu Photography. Every picture Tsuna takes I plan to do my best to recreate and post, along with some other daily photo. Additionally, my regular Tumblr is RyuuSiren7, so feel free to come to send me asks or check up on theories and update schedules, etc. I might even do some fanart if I have time.
> 
> AN2: A PLOT HAS BEEN BORN, thanks to the song "Burn the House Down" by AJR. Be afraid, lovely readers. Be very afraid.
> 
> AN3: I NEED MORE BETAS. ANYONE INTERESTED?
> 
> AN4: BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA IS SO FREAKING GOOD. EXPECT A FIC OR TWO SOON. I actually have two RP blogs, ua-Aizawa and ua-RyoInui.
> 
> AN5: It's been a long time since I started this chapter, let alone updated. Why? Because I am at Texas A&M Uni studying Molecular and Cell Bio with my English centric brain and getting my butt kicked by just about everything except chemistry. Lord help me. 
> 
> REVIEWER REPLIES & QUESTIONS
> 
> So, some of ya'll have expressed questions and concerns in the comments, so I'm just gonna go ahead and answer them here and now.
> 
> Why does Kyoya say "arrest to death?" How do you arrest someone to death? Police brutality. Jk, jk. He says it because it is actually a reference to Alaude, the first-generation Cloud guardian and one of the three Hibari look-alikes who used that phrase as HIS catchphrase.
> 
> When do you update? Frankly, I don't have an update schedule. I'm trying REALLY HARD to make this a story that I will update once a month, but it's a struggle. (This did not happen. I am sorry. That's the goal though.)
> 
> Wait, HeatstruckBullets is Reborn? Yep. Sorry for the confusion, folks. Don't worry, you'll know Colonello when/if he appears. Probably.
> 
> Have we figured out what Mida is yet? Nope. I do know it's not a mix of Tinder and Facebook, simply because I've never used Facebook and didn't know Tinder existed until recently. Some evolution of Twitter, I believe… It was also not from Greek mythology, though it is indeed a GOLDEN idea, if I may say so myself. (Puns are life, okay?)
> 
> Can we please fix Nana into a functioning mother? SPOILERS. Though this is my interpretation of canon!Nana, honestly. At least in the beginning. She calls her own son useless and doesn't seem to have any substance behind her support at all.
> 
> FELICITERIA You are completely correct, I should have had Colonello be HEARTstruck bullets and made Reborn a different username. Rest in peace these lost opportunities. Well, actually…

_"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills."_

_-Chinese Proverb_

* * *

_**Chapter Three: Spider Webs on the Wind** _

* * *

 Tsuna was forgetting something.

Something important.

_Very important._

Sadly for poor Tsuna, it was well and truly forgotten, buried beneath dull orange haze and, in another world, perhaps it would never be found.

In the meantime, though, Tsuna was forgetting something very important, but the more pressing concern was that he was going to be late to school. Again.

Clouds drifted by the window, painting the sky a dark grey. Tsuna's latest detention was in his pocket, out of sight and out of mind as he picked out shapes in the clouds. The teacher's lecture floated through the back of his mind, ignored in favor of figuring out if the silhouette in the sky was a bunny or a puppy.

Definitely a bunny. Dogs were  _scary._

"Sawada-kun!"

The fluffy brunette jerked in his chair, slipping off the edge and landing with a wince on the cool tile. Mocking chuckles and giggle echoed from his classmates, while the teacher just sighed. "Return to your seat, Sawada-kun, and pay attention for once."

The nine-year-old scrambled back into his seat, bright rose tinting pale cheeks as the boy nodded shakily. The class settled down, chairs squeaking and pages shuffling as young minds returned to the task of studying mathematical concepts.

Tsuna opened his notebook to where he left off several days ago, determined to actually try. (Not that it mattered… it was always just out of reach, no matter how hard he tried… it was right there, but he just couldn't… just  _couldn't…_

_What was he forgetting?_

_What was he thinking of, again?_

_He couldn't remember…)_

With a sigh, clumsy hands continued flipping dry, lined notebook paper only to stop and blink at the latest entry in his notebook. While it wasn't exactly uncommon for Tsuna to find doodles in his notebook – quite the opposite in fact – these were rather… stranger… than normal. Where on earth did fanged clouds and funny hair come from?

Tsuna knew he wasn't creative enough to think up such things on his own  _(- indigo screamed in protest, drowned in a sea of orange that burnt brown -)_ so something must have inspired them. But what…?

Already discarding his previous promise to pay attention in class, Tsuna hunkered down at scowled at his crinkled paper like it would make it reveal its childishly scribbled secrets. Graphite smudged fingertips as Tsuna traced his old doodles, shaky lines of fluff and sharp edges for fangs, swirls that lead back to the beginning and connected to clouds like horror movie balloons.

Tsuna  _hated_  horror movies, they were so scary and –

Wait. Stop. Focus. He was… thinking of something…? He was… oh, right! The fanged clouds!

Fanged clouds, heh. Lion clouds. Tsuna giggled to himself, ignoring the eye-roll of the students next to him. His mama said that lions were special animals… carnivals? No, those were the strange party-festival things that visited Namimori every so often in the summer. Hmmm… Carniwhorls? Carnibulls? Carni… Carni…

Oh! Carnivores! Lions were fluffy fanged carnivores!

_Oh._

_Oh no._

_CarnivorousClouds18._

_Cloud-senpai._

Tsuna had forgotten something, something very important. But this "something" was wrapped in violet and warped with indigo against a backdrop of bright orange, and oh, it would  _not_ be smothered.

A crack echoed in the internal (eternal) muffled silence, and violet began to drift into the empty world.

"Sawada-kun!"

The cry never reached its target. Sawada Tsunayoshi was already long gone, running to the bathroom with an orange phone in hand.

He missed meeting a certain violent prefect by exactly 27.18 seconds.

Watery brown eyes stared down at a small orange phone, not truly seeing anything beyond the blur of tears.

One day, and he had already messed it up.

He'd never have any friends; he really was No Good. How could he  _forget_  about something (someone) so important? Another chance down the drain. Why, why, why? Why couldn't he just remember? Why couldn't he just get anything right for once?

Ratty trainers peaked out under a blue plastic door as a little boy curled into a ball on the cold tile and sobbed into his knees.

* * *

n Italy, a man with black hair and blacker eyes felt his instincts give a sudden screech and then quiet. The person looked up to the sky, where clouds heavy with rain hung ready to burst. Change was in the air, and he couldn't wait to see which way the winds would blow.

In China, a man draped in the red of luck and crimson of blood paused, frowning at the tea leaves in the bottom of the cup. With a sigh, he rose in a swish of cloth and hair. Porcelain turned to ash and scattered to the winds. Japan was beautiful this time of year; perhaps it was time for a change of scenery.

A boy atop a roof  _( - a bird perched on a spire - )_  surveyed the ground below with a stern gaze  _( - a gargoyle fiercely protecting -)_ , looking for the source of the tenseness that caused his hair to rise  _(- bloodlust to spark)._

Below the demon  _( - the trapped spirit inside a - )_ , a boy on the verge of becoming a man felt the static in the air and the tingle down his spine. Most importantly, however, was that this too-young-man but too-old-boy noticed something no one else did: the source of this feeling was a phone in his pocket that was so cold it burned despite the mild, humid day.

Hibari Kyoya laid back, Tetsu's gakuran a pillow underneath the wild boy's head as the unyielding concrete below pressed against every other joint and muscle. Despite the lack of sun, the humidity of the Spring day was more than enough to lull the skylark into a lazy doze, uninterestedly picking out abstract shapes and geometric figures in the clouds above.

Up above, a dodecahedron transforms into a lion which becomes a fish before scattering to the winds, wisps becoming licks of flames and a fleet of ships with scalene triangle sails and –

His phone buzzed.

Kusakabe Tetsuya watched with hooded eyes and clenched fists and didn't speak a word of what he learned.

* * *

 

 

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Good morning.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** How did you get so many followers?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Answer me.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** Also, do not pay any attention to DragonStorm or anyone that user follows. He is untrustworthy. Understand?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Sky-kohai, respond.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Are you still injured from yesterday?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  You better not be hospitalized, little animal.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Are you ignoring me?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  I'll arrest you to death.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Sky-kohai, what is going on?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** It has been 18 hours, 27 minutes, and 13 seconds since you last responded. What has he told you? What has happened?

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Fine.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** Sayonara.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  (If you broke your phone or something else herbivorous, I will double arrest you to death. If you are unconscious due to untreated wounds, I will triple the arresting.)

The tears had mostly run dry, leaving salt stained tracks down chubby, red painted cheeks. Tuna sniffled, wondering in the back of his mind how long he had been sitting here on the third-floor bathroom floor. (33 people had entered and exited… seven had banged on the door… four bells had rung, so that was… that was… how many hours…? How many bells? It was… It was... He couldn't remember.)

A head of gravity-defying hair bowed, wiping stained cheeks on wrinkly uniform pants and quickly rubbing away saltwater teardrops from the screen of his phone.

Maybe it would be better if he just… didn't respond? Obviously, Cloud-senpai was angry with him, and… Tsuna didn't want to have his uselessness shoved in his face again.

But… but that wasn't fair to the other. The other, who had reached out to him first, who had forgiven him after lying, who had even warned him of a suspicious user. (And Tsuna had checked – Cloud-senpai was right that something was weird with DragonStorm. After all, it was only after this new user followed him that so many others had subscribed to his empty page, as well.)

Another bell rang, echoing in the empty room, and the veritable stampede outside followed by sudden silence distantly registered as the end of the school day to the exhausted brunette. Deciding to figure out a reply in the safety and comfortable quiet of his own home, Tsuna pocketed the colorful little phone and staggered upright, stretching out stiff limbs and sore knees.

Peering into the deserted hallway, Tsuna quickly snuck back to his classroom only to find the door locked. Big brown eyes blinked at the unyielding handle before the nine-year-old stood on the tips of his toes, wavering unsteadily on his feet as he peeked into the classroom window. The lights were switched off, and Tsuna could just barely see his backpack and school supplies still sitting on his desk thanks to the sunlight streaming in from a window.

Tsuna sighed, shoulders slumped, and began trudging down the hall. There was a test tomorrow in history and he had wanted to study… though it probably wouldn't have made a difference, anyway.

"You're crowding, herbivore. It is against the rules to loiter after school hours."

Tsuna shrieked at the voice from right behind him and spun around, nearly tripping as he did so. "A-Ah! I'm sorry Hibari-senpai, I was just leaving…"

Steel grey eyes flicked up and down, taking in the smaller child's red eyes, rumpled clothing, and distinct lack of school supplies. Holding up a hand to stop the younger child's stammered blabbering, the prefect stalked over to the window as Tsuna had just done and glanced inside, easily noting the scattered school supplies and backpack and the reasonable connection between them and the nervous boy beside him. Without speaking or even so much as glancing at the fluffy brunette, Hibari reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.

Brown eyes widened in shock as the demon of Namimori used one of the many, many keys to unlock the door. (Privately, Tsuna wondered if the reason no one could stop Hibari Kyoya was that the infamous boy had the keys to every single lock in the town.

He was only partly correct.)

"Hurry up, herbivore!"

Tsuna barely stifled a shriek before darting in, tripping over air and nearly falling on the way. In the back of his mind, the brunette wondered if the elder boy would just go ahead and lock him in with his supplies. However, the so-called demon waited with surprising patience, leaning against the doorframe with both of his arms crossed and a blank expression.

Somehow, it was both terrifying and oddly reassuring.

Another near faceplant and three spilled pencil cases later, Tsuna was fully packed up and stumbling out of the classroom. Hibari locked it behind the boy and bopped the brunette on the head with a tonfa for making him late on his patrol.

Tsuna knew from experience that it was much lighter than it could have been.

The black-clothed figure turned around and stalked down the hallway without another word, somehow making his jacket billow as he walked despite the complete lack of wind in the hallway.

"Thank you, senpai!" Tsuna turned and left as quickly as he could, not daring to pause or look back.

If he had, he would have seen the demon of Namimori half turned, watching the smaller boy with a considering gaze and an inexplicable emotion in ash streaked eyes.

Tsuna made it home without incident for once, the only mark to show from his after-school excursions a slightly red mark near the top of his forehead. Nana blinked in surprise at her cheerful boy, watching him smile and skip as he set the table, only tripping a couple times along the way.

"Did you have a good day at school, Tsu-kun?" The brunette nodded, humming an affirmation as he surveyed his work proudly. "How about online? How are your friends?" Tsuna halted, actions stuttering to a stop as the smile on his face flickered out. He shrugged once before turning away, grabbing his backpack and tripping up the stairs to his room.

Nana frowned as she watched the abrupt attitude change. She set down the pan in her hand with a sigh, closing her eyes as she turned up toward the ceiling.

All she wanted was for her little boy to be happy. For a minute there, she had hope, but - well. Nana sighed as she shook her head, chastising herself.

It couldn't be helped, after all.

Her Tsu-kun was just useless like that.

Tsuna threw his backpack into the corner of the room carelessly before flopping down on his bed face first. He didn't move until the heat and lack of air from having his face shoved into a pile of blankets became too uncomfortable to stand.

Twisting to reach his phone, the boy managed to yank it out of his pockets and switch it on. No new messages and a couple hundred thousand new followers. He sighed and buried his face in the blankets again.

Tsuna would trade all the followers in the world for just one real friend.

* * *

 

ibari Kyoya finished patrol for the day and was sprawled out on the roof of his house, an open textbook before him and stacks of papers, files, and books surrounding him and weighted down with textbooks.

A carnivore had to be the best in all areas, after all.

He sighed into inked equations and dug out his phone, uninterestedly flicking through the latest feed from his channels and sending out a couple orders to his Committee. Just before the black haired boy prepared to shut off his phone, a message popped onto the screen.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** Hi.

Kyoya nearly snorted. If the other thought that they could just ignore the events of yesterday -

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I'm sorry.

 ** _The_Sly_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I'm really sorry.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I promise I wasn't ignoring you on purpose.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** Sometimes I just… forget things. I always forget everything.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** And there were so many msgs… I turned off my phone and didn't check.

The boy on the roof sighed, fingers hovering over the phone's keyboard as dark eyes observed the clouds overhead. What to do, what to say… The phone in his hands buzzed again. The dark haired boy scowled, the familiar itching need to move, to fight, crawling up his arms and to his head. As usual, the slightest irritation turned into an inferno of rage coiled within him.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** What do you think is more offensive? Ignoring someone, or forgetting them?

Minutes ticked by.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I'm sorry.

If Kyoya didn't need his phone quite so much it would have been sent flying with a pitch that would have made any star baseball player proud. Instead, Kyoya sent his tonfa hurtling at the nearest tree, watching it embed itself in the trunk before turning back to his phone screen.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** That's all you have to say for yourself?

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** What else can I say? I forget everything. My name, my lessons, faces, names, directions. Nothing lasts. I forget it all.

Kyoya paused, his sharp scowl sliding - but not softening - into a thoughtful frown. That.. didn't sound like someone toying with others, nor an ungrateful herbivore. That sounded… like something that he had heard before, many years ago. Maybe a medical condition of some sort? If the other's words were true, that would be short and long-term memory loss.

A large if, but one that seemed more and more probable with every rambled message and explanation that popped up.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  Then tell me, Sky-kohai, why should I waste my time on someone who'll forget everything by the time they wake?

Kyoya turned his phone off, tching at the five-second wait before the phone finally obeyed his desires and shut down. Hours passed with the black haired prefect scouring through papers and textbooks, switching between writing and typing for notes and assignments.

Tetsuya came up several times to "bring him water," aka check up on him. He came once with dinner, which Kyoya merely took several bites of before setting it aside and continuing his work.

It wasn't until the sun lit the sky with a brilliant orange and red haze that Kyoya finally sighed, shutting the current textbook of choice with a snap and sprawling out. The still warm roof tiles were ridged and pressed against his back in awkward places, but the heat and view more than made up for it.

Sighing, the steel-eyed boy decided he had waited long enough and turned his phone back on to see what his kohai had replied. (If the other had replied at all, that is.)

Somewhat surprisingly, there were five new messages waiting for his attention from the subject in question.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I know you're probably busy. I can tell from your page that you're probably someone rly important.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** But I don't want to just accept that. I'd like to continue this.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** I may forget everything, but I remembered you again.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** And I'll keep remembering you, no matter how many times that takes.

Time-stamped several hours later, there was one more message from the other user.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** You can "arrest me to death" as many times as you want.

A near-savage grin flickered to life and a short exclamation that sounded more like a bark than a child's laugh echoed across the empty roof.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_**  I'll hold you to that, kohai.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** Now stop apologizing. It's getting annoying.

 ** _CarnivorousClouds18:_** Don't forget, or I'll arrest you to death.

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** Ah, ok!

 ** _The_Sky_Is_Not_My_Limit_27:_** Thank you, senpai!

That was a fast response. Had the other been waiting all this time?

A head of messy dark hair tilted in consideration, a slight frown appearing on the twelve-year old's face as he stared at the screen. Why did that feel… so familiar? Hmm. Kyoya shrugged and set the phone aside in favor of collecting the heaviest stack of textbooks and heading inside. Tetsuya would collect the rest. He had gotten his answers and was - for the present, at least - content.

And when Kyoya finally met his kohai and stole him away from that man's influence, he would show the little animal firsthand the consequences of ignoring a carnivore. Before that, though… something dark stirred in the back of the boy's mind.

What did his kohai mean by "forgetting everything," exactly? What was wrong with the small animal?

Unnoticed to the schoolboy  _( - the demon - )_ , purple sparks crackled once and then disappeared into the black screen of his phone.

* * *

 

On the other side of town, a shock raced through Tsuna's fingers from his phone as brown  _( - amber - )_  eyes blinked in shock. The brunette shook it off and smiled to himself, wrapping his arms around his knees and keeping a steel grip on his phone. He should probably be concerned about the promise he gave to his senpai, but… all he could feel was happiness and comfort.

He hadn't messed up.

Or, he had, but he'd been forgiven.

The boy smiled to himself and pulled out his history textbook and notes (more doodles than anything, really) to study.

He had a test tomorrow, after all!

_(he remembered - )_

* * *

 

Nana blinked at the cheerful boy across for her, waving his chopsticks in the air and explaining why the history of the Edo period was actually "pretty cool." She didn't know what had happened since he went upstairs, but he was happy, and thus so was she.

The next day, Tsuna only missed two questions out of thirty on his history test.

He was accused of cheating.

They had no proof.

Tsuna's test was returned with a zero on it, circled in red, and instructions to meet after school for a "disciplinary meeting."

On the other side of the school, a dark-haired boy checked his phone to see a message from the principal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I think my favorite part of this chapter is how suspicious the boys are of Fon. Reborn thinks he's the one they should be wary of but the boys didn't even think twice before pinning the blame on the right person for the wrong reasons. Now, time to dodge the pitchforks and flamethrowers for that ending. I promise it's building up to something.
> 
> Fanfiction:
> 
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**Author's Note:**

> AN: I will be very impressed if you can figure out where Mida came from. I will even give you a one-shot or OC insert. Please review!
> 
> AN 2: I myself have forgotten where Mida came from. Someone, please remind me. Seriously. It was a combination of something… Hmm. In other news, I likely forgot because yours truly managed to get a severe concussion! Guess who's not supposed to be using technology right now? Guess who just finished editing and typing this chapter! Yeah. Please forgive me, loyal readers that follow my other stories! I'll update as soon as I can, please just bear with me while I'm healing. Also, I did legitimate research on whether to spell it "senpai" or "sempai" so come fight me bro. And "why are you writing Japanese words when it's English, just use the English terms." No. I have Reasons when I use the Japanese words over the English. In this case, it's because Hibari is a nationalist (Namimori-ist) who would tonfa me in the face if I didn't.
> 
> A total of TEN reviews needed to update! (Five from ya'll, five from me replying to ya'll.)


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